Missouri 48, Kentucky 17
LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Dorial Green-Beckham set a Missouri record with four touchdown receptions on Saturday and the No. 8 Tigers coasted past Kentucky, 48-17.
Green-Beckham, a 6-foot-6, 225-pound star sophomore, jumped over his coverage for his first three scoring catches, essentially winning jump balls in the end zone over much shorter cornerbacks and safeties.
Freshman quarterback Maty Mauk gave Green-Beckham plenty to work with, and he took advantage for a career day.
Mauk completed 17-of-28 passes for 203 yards and five touchdowns.
Senior quarterback James Franklin, who was injured Oct. 12 against Georgia and had not played since, came in late in the fourth quarter after Missouri built a 31-point lead.
Kentucky was first on the board with a nine-play, 76-yard drive early in the first quarter that led to Joe Mansour's 21-yard field goal.
On the subsequent kickoff, Missouri's Marcus Murphy returned the ball to the Tigers 40-yard line before fumbling, with Kentucky's Tre' Dunn recovering.
The Wildcats went three-and-out, and they got one more stop before Green-Beckham's first score.
On his first touchdown catch, which gave Missouri a 7-3 lead with 1:50 left in the first quarter, Green-Beckham leaped over Kentucky cornerback Nate Willis to make the eight-yard touchdown grab.
Willis was called for pass interference on the play, which was declined.
Green-Beckham's second touchdown came on a seven-yard pass from Mauk in the second quarter, and the third touchdown was his most spectacular of the day.
Green-Beckham leaped over Eric Dixon, a 5-11 safety, as Dixon had both arms wrapped around Green-Beckham, who caught the ball with his hands on the other side of Dixon's helmet. He pulled the ball over Dixon's head and into his body before hitting the ground for a 22-yard touchdown.
Missouri' defense dominated the Wildcats up front, finishing with seven sacks and 11 tackles for losses.
The Tigers, who ranked second in the nation entering play with 17 interceptions this season, did not pick off any passes. Missouri had two turnovers, both fumbles, to Kentucky's one, also a fumble.
Missouri running back Henry Josey rushed 11 times for 113 yards and two touchdowns, including an 86-yard scoring run in the fourth quarter. He also had two catches for 22 yards and a score.
Kentucky quarterback Jalen Whitlow completed 17-of-27 passes for 225 yards.
The Tigers outgained Kentucky, 426-329.
NOTES: QB Maty Mauk's five touchdown passes tied a school record. Chase Daniel threw for five touchdowns four times in his career. ... The match-up between SEC East opponents was the second since Missouri joined the conference last year. Missouri leads the all-time series, 2-1. ... Missouri was the Wildcats' fifth ranked opponent of the season, and the Wildcats are 0-5 in those games. They also lost to, at the time of the game, No. 7 Louisville, No. 19 Florida, No. 13 South Carolina and No. 1 Alabama.
